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Election

© James C. Hess

I note, with equal parts pride and shame, that I did a stint on student council while in high school.

I also note, with more pride than shame, that while on student council I was NOT like Tracy Flick, the character Reese Witherspoon plays in "Election": The know-it-all, the perversely ambitious student who always had her hand in the air, who always wanted more, more, more, and drove those around her crazy because enough--for her--wasn't enough.

Come to think of it: While on the student council in high school I was, easily, the antithesis of Tracy Flick. (My legacy, in this capacity, I recall, with much effort, had something, vaguely now, to do with getting soft drink machines IN the lunch room. I think. Or did my political legacy have to do with swapping a pop machine for a pseudo-pop machine that cleverly despensed beer? No, wait. That was a trick the football team pulled. No, wait. Was that why the pop machines were removed from the lunch room?)

Whatever. I do recall that there were at least two members of student council during my tenure who were, hands down, Tracy Flick, and, lawdy, did they drive people crazy.

In fact, if memory serves, one of those two who come to mind looked and acted liked Tracy Flick.

Which is probably why I like "Election".

Here's the thing: Tracy is a lot smarter than those two on council. She is. She knows better than to position herself in such a way so as to be on the receiving end of harsh verbal assault and criticism for her ambitions: To be everything, but not to everyone.

"Election": A wicked satiricial take on elections in high school, on the student government, and what one person--Tracy--will do to become the president of said body.

I know: You've heard this one before. But you haven't seen this one before, not as "Election" presents it, that is. And how "Election" presents this premise goes to set it apart from other such efforts.

How does "Election" present this? Not through the eyes of Tracy or her classmates, but through the perceptions and prejudices of a teacher who has had enough of Tracy Flick.

The teacher in question is Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick). In his own way McAllister is the antithesis of Flick. He was, while in high school, the nice guy who always finished last. Now he is an adult who is nothing less than hapless. He is. How else to explain how it is he can go on an adulterous liaison and come away with a bee sting to his eyelid.